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In my continuing journey around all of Norn Irn’s parkruns, I’m trying to tick off the closest ones first. Comber seems like it’s far away, but really, it’s only 12 miles from Lisburn, a pleasant 20 minute journey.

I’ll be honest – it’s not the most attractive of courses. The little bridge over the river is quite pretty, which is just as well as you cross it 8 times during the 4 figure-of-eight laps. It has the big advantage of being very flat, though being quite open the force of the wind can be strong.

Gear:

Mini’s Addidog vest was much admired, and I was very glad of my thin gloves. And a big thank you to the marshall at the finish line who spotted that I’d dropped one of my gloves and returned it to me.

Time:

I’d gone off fast with the big boys. This was really in an effort to stop me being hemmed in at the back. I kept the first lady in my sights for most of the run, but as usual I faded badly during the final km, and several people overtook me on the sprint to the finish (despite Minnie’s best attempts to trip them up…..)

I was fairly content with 26:02, given the wind factor and the amount of wine I’d consumed on Friday night! And it did put me top of the leaderboard in my age category. 4th lady – and 2nd and 3rd were only 10 seconds ahead of me.

Crowd:

I visited on its 37th event, so it’s still just getting going. Indeed, the woman doing the scanning hadn’t come across a keyring plastic barcode before. Average attendance is 60, which gives it a friendly feel. There was plenty of clapping and cheering for the slower runners. Scanning and tea-drinking takes place inside Comber Rec, which is a bit dark, but has seats and tables, and there was a great buzz about it. The after-run goodies included jammy scones and home-made coffee cake, which was very impressive.

Strangely Appropriate Song:

I’d been having a row with my computer which refused to talk to my phone, so the playlist I had wasn’t what I’d wanted. But I did love hearing Utah Saints “Something Good”